International Education Day
Darvesh Karim
International Education Day is a day that is celebrated
annually on November 17th to promote the benefits of international education
and exchange programs. The day was established by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1972 to recognize
the vital role that education plays in fostering mutual understanding and peace
among nations.
HOW TO EARN ONLINE MONEY
Darvesh Karim
There are many ways to earn money online, some of the most
popular include:
Freelancing: Offer your skills and
services, such as writing, graphic design, programming, or virtual assistance,
to clients online. Websites like Upwork and Fiverr can connect you with
potential clients.
Selling products: Set up an online store or use a
marketplace like Amazon or Etsy to sell your own products or items you source
from elsewhere.
Affiliate marketing: Promote other people's products
and earn a commission for any sales made through your unique referral link.
Online tutoring: Use video conferencing software to
teach people in your area of expertise, such as language, math, or music.
Online surveys: Sign up with survey companies and get
paid for answering questions.
Creating content: Build a following on platforms like
YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or Twitch and monetize your content through
advertising or sponsorships.
Online trading: Trade stocks, forex, or
cryptocurrency online.
Dropshipping: Set up an online store and use a
supplier to fulfill orders, without having to keep inventory.
It's important to note that earning money online may require
time, effort and patience. It's also important to do your research to make sure
any opportunity or method you choose is legitimate and aligns with your skills
and interests.
WHAT IS SLO (Students’
Learning Outcome)
Darvesh Karim
Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) are statements that describe the knowledge, skills, or abilities that students should possess upon completion of a course or program. They are used to measure student learning and to assess the effectiveness of educational programs. SLOs are often aligned with the goals and objectives of the institution, department, or program.
SLOs are typically developed by faculty members and are
based on the course or program content and objectives. They are often written
in measurable terms and are used to guide instruction and assessment. For
example, an SLO for a mathematics course may state that upon completion,
students will be able to solve complex mathematical problems using algebraic
equations.
SLOs are used to measure student learning in a variety of
ways, including through exams, quizzes, essays, projects, and other forms of
assessment. They are also used to evaluate the effectiveness of educational
programs by comparing student performance on SLOs to national or institutional
standards.
The process of creating SLOs begins with identifying the
desired outcomes for a course or program, then creating measurable statements
that describe those outcomes. These statements are then used to guide
instruction and assessment, and to evaluate the effectiveness of the course or
program. The assessment of SLOs is an ongoing process, and the results are used
to improve instruction and student learning.
In summary, Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) are statements
that describe the knowledge, skills, or abilities that students should possess
upon completion of a course or program. They are used to measure student
learning and to assess the effectiveness of educational programs. They are
developed by faculty members, based on the course or program content and
objectives, and are written in measurable terms. They are used to guide
instruction and assessment, and to evaluate the effectiveness of educational
programs.
THE IMPORTANCE OF
DATABASE
Darvesh Karim
A database is a collection of organized
data that can be easily accessed, managed, and updated. It is a crucial tool
for businesses, organizations, and individuals to store and retrieve
information.
One of the most important advantages of using a database is
the ability to store a large amount of data in a structured and organized
manner. This allows for easy retrieval and manipulation of information, making
it a valuable tool for data analysis and decision-making. Databases also
provide a level of security, as they can be configured to control access to sensitive
information and prevent unauthorized access.
Databases are also used to ensure data consistency and
integrity. This means that the data stored in a database is accurate, complete,
and consistent. This is important for businesses, as inaccurate data can lead
to poor decision-making and financial loss.
Databases also play a critical role in the functioning of
modern business and organizations. They are used to store and retrieve customer
information, track sales and inventory, manage payroll and employee records,
and much more. They are also used to support online transactions and
e-commerce, as well as to power websites and mobile apps.
In addition, databases are used in many scientific and
research fields, including medicine, genetics, and environmental science. They
are also used to store and analyse data for weather forecasting and climate modelling.
In conclusion, databases are essential tools for storing and
managing information. They are used in a wide range of industries and
applications, from business and finance to science and research. They provide a
structured and organized way to store and retrieve data and ensure the
consistency and integrity of that data. Databases are also crucial for the
functioning of modern businesses and organizations and are essential for making
data-driven decisions.
https://pamirtimes.net/2022/06/29/enhacing-quality-of-teaching-and-learning-in-schools-a-practical-model/
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Darvesh Karim, AKU-IED/PDCN
With reference to my last article published on Pamir Times about “A practical model to enhance Community Involvement in Schools” which is one of the dimensions of school improvement initiatives framed by AKU-IED/PDCN through its flagship program Whole School Improvement Program (WSIP) in the context of Gilgit-Baltistan. This improvement model ensures progress in all the aspects of the schools to enhance students’ learning outcomes by focusing six dimensions i.e., Community Participation; Quality of Teaching and Learning; Leadership, Management and Administration; Curriculum Enrichment and Staff Development; Building, Accommodation and Resources; Social, Moral and Spiritual Development of Students and Health Education. The aforesaid article has already explained the dimension of ‘Community Participation’, while this article explains the Quality of Teaching and Learning in the following lines.
Improvement in quality of teaching and learning has always been the focus of whole school improvement model. Quality teaching is fundamental in the process of school improvement especially for students’ learning outcomes. It uses to be a major pillar of WSIP and during the intervention phase, it needs a major chunk of time to mould the teaching learning processes towards the desired curve. It is needed to give more time and value to improve quality of teaching and learning so that it could enhance students’ learning outcomes at present and in the years to come.
After a thorough academic audit, if a school has the following areas to improve, then it is strongly recommended to opt the suggested hereinafter activities to improve this dimension:
Keeping the above areas of improvements in mind, following ten activities and interventions are recommended to overcome the existing difficulties in school.
| Lesson Planning | Quiz Competitions |
| Reflection | Reading Skills |
| Timetable | Mental Math |
| Vocabulary Development | Co-operative learning |
| Presentation/Communication Skills | Creative writing. |
A lesson plan uses to be a teacher’s detailed description of the course of instruction for an individual lesson. A daily lesson plan is developed by a teacher to guide his/her class instruction. The detail of the plan varies depending on the preference of the teacher and subject being covered. If teachers are assuming lesson plan as a formality not as an intellectual process or integral part of teaching and learning, then the academic leads may arrange an in-service training session, then frequently checking the lesson plans, and giving feedback may improve this situation.
A consistent classroom observation, special sessions for teachers, on the spot support in classes, face to face interactions with individual teachers and feedback, schools may achieve the objectives effectively. Following success indicators will be sufficient to verify the achievement of the set objectives:
Reflection is the process of self-examination and self-evaluation that effective educators regularly engage in to improve their professional practices. Essentially, effective educators think carefully about what is taking place in each situation; identify the options available; consider their own values as professionals and their comfort level in acting on those values and finally make conscious choices about how to act to make a difference. In short, effective educators are reflective. They carefully examine their own and others’ practices to strengthen the quality and the effectiveness of their work.
Keeping the importance and significance of self-examination through reflective practices in education, the art of reflection to be taught and introduced to the teachers through a specially designed inhouse-session. Following should be the objectives in mind while introducing the reflective practices among teachers:
After the consistent observations, events, and providing opportunities to reflect on, teachers would be much developed which can be verified through observation as they can define reflection, what reflection is; can identify the purpose of reflection and discuss the importance of reflection for professional development; can discuss the steps involve in reflective process and guiding question for writing reflection. Likewise, teachers should maintain a reflective journal on daily bases to reflect on any critical incident happens in their daily life.
Timetable
A school timetable is an essential document for coordinating four elements of the school: students, teachers, available classrooms, and the time slots/periods. With the consensus of school management and teachers, re-formulation of timetable by keeping a sharp eye to allocate subjects to teachers by their capacity and willingness. While formulating the timetable following objectives should be focused:
Vocabulary development is the process whereby speakers of a specific language enhance their working vocabularies with new words. This can be improved by exposure to new language information through different strategies. Exposure through writing and competitions is especially effective, for it offers a greater context by which new words may become understood. To cater this need in school for teachers as well as for students, different strategies like a special session for teachers and spelling competitions for students can be initiated. Following objectives would be the targets to achieve, while initiating different strategies for vocabulary development:
After such interventions, it can be evidently observed that teachers write all contextual meanings of new words on the board, give clues, and allow students to guess the meanings, teachers share definitions, antonyms of new words, show pictures and share all possible connected words to the new words. Teachers give tasks to the students to develop vocabulary through suffixes and prefixes while students have developed the vocabulary to a greater level as teachers may conduct subject wise spelling competitions, which enable students to learn new words from their textbooks.
Presentations/Communication Skills
Effective presentation and communication is a process of transferring information from one individual to another. Communication is commonly defined as imparting or interchanging of thoughts, opinions, or information by speech, writing, or discussion. In a school perspective it is very much essential to have a very clear plan to enhance the communication and presentation skills of teachers as well as students. For this purpose, a full involvement of all the teaching staff to participate in the weekly inhouse sessions is essential. Likewise, encourage teachers to involve students in their teaching and allow students to ask questions, group work then presentations and individual work presentation. While planning for this element of professional development following objectives should be kept in mind to achieve:
This component of professional development should be effectively implemented in school by the teachers by their selves and by the students. The success in this element can be verified by observing that students confidently taking part in presentations and explain learning in-front of the class, students are fluent in asking questions and making arguments, students listen to questions and explain their understanding and teachers are also ready to respond and explain any topic.
Competitions and specially quiz competitions use to be a contest between individuals or groups. It arises whenever two or more parties strive to achieve a goal. Competition has been a major factor in education. On a global scale, national education systems, intending to bring out the best students out comes and encourage competitiveness among students. Competitions also make up a large proportion of extracurricular activities in which students participate.
If it is the situation in a school that students are provided less opportunities to ask questions in pairs/groups and for presentations, and there is a lack of productive discussions, debates and competitions on critical points or concepts, then it is obvious that students are lacking clarity in concepts and speaking skills. To overcome this issue, manage subject wise Quiz Competitions on regular basis. While formulating and initiating these activities following should be the focused objectives:
At the end of an academic year with such initiatives, it can be confidently observed that all the set objectives are achieved and all the students as well as the teachers’ involvement in these activities are on peak. During such an intervention in a private school of Gilgit-Baltistan, a female teacher reflected that, “The competitions helped us and students to prepare for exam and most of the students attempted multiple choice questions and answered very easily. It was a great success in the exam this year”. These initiatives would enable schools to confidently say that students have the sound content and general knowledge of various concepts. School regularly arranges quiz competitions on subject and general knowledge basis, a healthy competitive environment has been created, students easily attempt multiple choice questions etc.
Reading skill is the ability of acquiring the basic skills necessary for learning to read; that is, the ability to acquire meaning from print. As it has been the most common problem of all the schools that language skills are not that much focused in schools. To overcome this issue and to improve the reading skill among students as well as teachers, allocating a weekly library period and providing different books may be fruitful. Students are asked to write/brief colleagues on the book they read. After some time, it would be evident, that students developed reading habits. To verify it we can observe that students borrow books from Library on a regular basis, students predict, visualize, and interpret different events in the story, students restate the stories they have read.
Mental maths uses to be a guide to effective mental calculation. Calculating things in our head can be a difficult task. If we can’t remember what we’ve worked out or simply don’t know how to solve a problem, then it can be very challenging and frustrating. To enhance this skill among students as well as teachers, the introduction of Mental Math activities to achieve the objective which are to develop students’ calculation skills through mental maths will be fruitful.
Cooperative learning is a successful teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a particular subject or topic. Each member of a team is responsible not only for learning what is taught but also for helping team-mates to learn, thus creating an atmosphere of achievement. Teachers and students work through the assignment until all group members successfully understand and complete it. Cooperative efforts result in participants striving for mutual benefit so that all group members gain from each other’s efforts; recognize that all group members share a common fate (sink or swim together); know that one’s performance is mutually caused by oneself and one’s team members (we cannot do it without you); feel proud and jointly celebrate when a group member is recognized for achievement (We all congratulate you on your accomplishment!)
The introduction of different strategies among students like group work and house wise tasks keeping the following objectives in mind may be useful:
After a successful intervention in this segment of school improvement, we can easily verify the outcomes of cooperative learning among students that they sit and work in groups, teachers assign group tasks with complementary roles to individual students, students demonstrate the social skills, and teachers critically observe students’ social skills, group processes and give feedback
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction that goes outside the bounds of professional and technical forms of writing. Creative writing is believed to focus on students’ self-expression. Such initiatives can be introduced on every level, however secondary level should be focused with following objectives to achieve:
After a certain time, it can be confidently observed that not all the students but mostly the students will show a positive response in terms of creative writing in the focused classes. The achievements such as students generate ideas through brainstorming on any topic; they write a short paragraph on a given topic according to their level; students develop a story of their own by using their own imagination; students have their notebooks, files and displays in classroom with their creative work they have done can be visible. With an intentional intervention along with appropriate activities and modifications in daily schooling process, we can achieve better outcomes.
Expected Impact after an Academic Year’s deliberate intervention
All the above initiatives to improve the quality of teaching and learning will prove to be effective in terms of teachers’ attitude towards students and their profession as well. Students will play main role for their learning through asking questions from teachers, responding to teachers’ questions, sharing understanding with the whole class after reading the text, presentations and providing support to peers in learning. More importantly, teachers will also show love and care towards students and students’ self-esteem will be boosted up.
https://www.dailyausaf.com/epaper/popup.php?newssrc=issues/2022-04-07/158536/p2_01.gif
https://pamirtimes.net/2022/04/07/investment-in-education-is-need-of-the-time/
INVESTMENT
IN EDUCATION IS THE NEED OF THE TIME
Darvesh
Karim, AKU-IED/PDCN
The inference of
this poetry is: “The sons of Adam are limbs of each other, having been created
of one essence. When the calamity of time affects one limb, the other limbs
cannot remain at rest. If you have no sympathy for the troubles of others, you
are unworthy to be called by the name of a Human”. It is also believed that this
world is like a human body, while countries and societies are like the different
parts of it. If there is pain somewhere in an organ the whole of the body feels
pain. To get rid-off this pain the patient takes different precautions. He/she
uses a prescribed medicine and food. By the virtue of acting upon the
instructions of physician, the patient gets rid-off from the disease. Likewise, if there is any disturbance and annoyance
in any society this should pain the whole world, as the world has become a
global village now. It has been unanimously agreed that the disturbance and
disorder in a society is the result of ignorance. The lack of knowledge and
information or simply being unaware of important information or facts of the
world. The prescription
to overcome disturbance and annoyance is educating the society.
The Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by the
United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect
the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity. We
all know this fact that to overcome or to cure the ignorance and poverty, societies
need to equip with knowledge, skills, and positive attitudes. This can be done
through investing on education and declaring an emergency in education sector especially
in third world countries. SDGs 4th goal also advocates ensuring
inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning
opportunities for all. However, all the 17 goals of SDGs are interconnected and
can be achieved by deliberate focus on 4th goal, which will be
instrumental to reduce/end poverty & hunger, promote well-being, gender
equality, sustainable management of water & sanitation, access to energy, promote
economic growth, build resilient infrastructure, foster innovation and so on. For
societies, education is more important because that is the only means through
which they will gain knowledge of socio-economic factors, healthy living, how
to free the nation from poverty, inequality and raise women for a better
tomorrow.
To promote
education and ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promote
life-long learning opportunities in Gilgit-Baltistan, Aga Khan Development
Network’s institutions like Aga Khan Foundation, Aga Khan University and Aga
Khan Education Services have been very much instrumental to implement various
educational projects in different districts of Gilgit-Baltistan for last many
years. AKDN has been designing and implementing variety of activities to
improve female education, community mobilization and social advocacy to
bring-in the out-of-school children to schools, and to improve student
retention and quality of education in the marginalized communities through
improvement in schools physical and learning conditions.
Gilgit-Baltistan is
famous for its natural beauty, selfless hospitality, peace, and rich cultural
heritage. It is also known as the cradle
of peace and queen of beauty. Thousands
of domestic and foreign tourists visit Gilgit-Baltistan annually. To preserve
and to enhance the peace, its natural beauty, and the rich culture of
hospitality further, provision and access to quality education is the extreme
need of the time of this region. We live in third world countries, which are
currently facing corruption, poverty, hunger, poor healthcare, and educational
facilities. These are only a few of the problems faced by people in developing
countries. Many of these problems are caused by exclusion, fear, intimidation,
broken infrastructure, and lack of money, resources, access to information, and
tools. I believe that developed world is well acquainted with this situation of
third world countries and they are supporting the countries in need. However,
being within limited resources, Gilgit-Baltistan is doing its best in education
sector, and it may become the torch bearer and a landmark to spread the message
of peace and prosperity not only in Pakistan but in the whole world. To bring
this dream into reality, it needs more attention and support especially in
Education sector by UN agencies and other philanthropic entities of the world
to help Gilgit-Baltistan scale the peak of the brilliance. Just like a slight patting
of a teacher increases the motivation and fondness to learn of a student, a
small contribution and support can enhance the motivation to learn and to
educate the society of Gilgit-Baltistan which has a potentiality to emerge as a
model society for the developing countries of the world.
IGNITING MINDS IN THE COLD - A TALE OF RESILIENCE AND LEARNING IN GILGIT-BALTISTAN Darvesh Karim, AKU-IED/PDCN Gilgit In the heart of ...
